Well, Travis Wood threw a gem today, pitching six innings, only allowing two hits and one walk. The Cubs could only muster two hits though, and it wasn’t enough to net the Cubs their fourth consecutive series win.

I think there are a few disappointing areas of today’s game that I’d like to mention:

The Cubs lowered A’s starter Dan Straily’s ERA from 5.00 to 4.52 and only got one hit off of him. The only two hits of the game were collected by Starlin Castro and Alfonso Soriano, which is neither here nor there (but it is nice to see Castro continuing to hit the ball).

Wood is tied for 86th in the league in run support. This bothers me because he’s been so good, and he could be growing tired of pitching for a team that just can’t win him any games. I also believe that he’s becoming one of the premier southpaw starters in the game, and I’d hate to lose him since he’s a young 26 years old.

Matt Guerrier allowed four base runners in his one inning pitched but escaped an earned run because of a Welington Castillo passed ball. DFA that man before he can kill us again. I don’t want to play the what-if game, but seriously, we have a better chance of winning that game without allowing four base runners in the inning. I mean, come on.

The Cubs now head home to face the scorching hot Pirates in a three game stretch, of which I only expect to win one game.

There are also some bright spots:

Castro went 1-for-3 with a walk. This makes him 11-36 in his past eight games, and he’s walked in his past two. That puts his line at (.306/.342/.417), which is actually a great line. And one that I would be ecstatic to see him play at through October.

Wood is tied for the league lead in quality starts, and has a 2.69 ERA but just five wins. He’s only got a WHIP of about 0.979 which is pretty incredible for throwing 110.1 innings so far this season.

The Cubs have slipped to 36-47 on the season on their way to facing the Pirates at home. This might not seem like a bright spot, but they played the A’s very closely in all three games this series. There is hope!

That’s all I’ve got for this post friends, but as always, go Cubs! (And one last ‘MURICA!)